Common Practice, it seems......

These are excerpts taken from the GAO report:

"Also, the guardian neglected to collect $39,000 of rental income for over four years on behalf of one victim."

Ludwig and I couldn't find his rental income either.  I know Root Realty did their job in collecting the money, it just never made it into Ludwig's trust account.  Your guess is as good as mine as to where that money went (and that realty company was paid $250 a month to manage two empty apartments, then just one apartment for a while).  Devon Bank was EXCELLENT when it came to passing out Ludwig's money, collecting it or making him any was another story.  (You also can't check on the banks accuracy since Rick Block has "free reign over the old man's half a million dollars!  No courts to go through!"  That's what he was bragging about when Ludwig opened his trust account at Devon Bank and no trustee is going to get that excited unless they have something to gain by it "in my opinion.") 

"The guardian hid the man's will from the court and family members..."

Another common practice at Devon Bank. I'll tell you after Ludwig passes away why they wouldn't cough this thing up aside from Mr. Block's "free reign" and the fact that not only aren't the courts watching them but obviously no one at the bank is watching those two trustees either.  I'll let you know if Ludwig's family inherits anything.

"For example, she noted that the company had purchased mental health support services for the veteran at a rate that was 1500 percent higher than necessary."

Devon Bank does the exact same thing when hiring Home Instead Caregiving Agency.  Their clients pay an OBSCENE amount of money for caregivers even if they don't want them or need them, they're forced.  When a Senior Citizen requires 24 hour care, it's more economical for them to go straight into daily rates instead of hourly.  The trustees at Devon Bank don't do this, they force their clients to continue at the hourly rate which is more than double.  When Ludwig complained about all the caregivers coming, the trustees just set him up with more and billed him more money (then, Home Instead had all kinds of things going on at Ludwig's house while he wasn't even home, just to get paid.  They made excuses to bill him but what do you expect when no one is minding the till and the bank has free reign?).  Not to mention, you have a private paid guardian who is pushing lift chairs and wheelchairs on his clients.  It's obvious they want their clients to physically deteriorate in order to move Home Instead in then bill them an outrageous fee for their "professional care."  Caregivers wouldn't even be hired if they let their clients exercise, get up or walk on their own but they don't.  Trust me, there's no $$$$ in it.

"the elderly woman did not have pierced ears and the earrings were later found in the guardian’s home. Searches of her home also revealed coins, "

I bet Rick Block is a coin collector.  (To all my anonymous posters, you don't need to tell me whether or not this is true, my intuition tells me all I need to know.  I saw the way he was looking at Ludwig's coin collection, the man was a goner.)   But I think all their homes should be looked at by the families (who had trust accounts at Devon Bank) to check to see if anything looks familiar.

"When her clients moved into a nursing facility, the permanent guardian would throw away everything in their houses......."

Another common practice at Devon Bank and Ludwig wasn't even moved to a nursing home before the trustees threw out his personal property.  They just tossed his possessions out right in front of Ludwig and the entire world.  Called the junkman.  Can you imagine? 

"The court recommended that it could either appoint the attorney to serve as the victim’s guardian, or allow the attorney to continue to serve as the victim’s trustee instead. However, in the end, it allowed both to occur...."

I don't know what difference this makes?  This is "my opinion" of the trust department at Devon Bank.  I watched Sally Griffin order Rick Block around.  She did all the talking and when we were emptying Ludwig's lockbox, she told Rick what to do and he did it.  (The reason I paid so much attention to this was because she was so disrespectful to Ludwig.  If she had any respect for her boss or employer she wouldn't disrespect her client but he didn't command any.)  Then I watched Josh Mitzen (hired by Devon Bank to be the guardian in order to steal estates out from underneath the heirs who inherit) order Sally around.  So, "in my opinion" Josh Mitzen is Senior Vice President of the Trust Department down at Devon Bank.  He definitely runs the show.... kind of like a pecking order.  Josh is over Sally, she's over Rick.  So, what difference does it make about guardian of the estate and guardian of the person?

After looking at Ludwig's trust account, watching the theives they hired come through his front door, the way the two trustees squander his money and his estate, I've come to the realization that they're (two trustees) are not out to make their employer money.  BUT that's only what I can see (by looking at their expenses), they may very well be making their employer all kinds of money "on the side."  I don't know? 

I remember several months ago, a woman left 7 million to a college.  The woman lived just like Ludwig, very simply, in a small home.  My first thought?  She didn't open a trust account at Devon Bank because they would have appointed a "care manager" then deemed her incompetent, sold her property and spent her 7 million before she died so no one inherited.  Most of it probably going to the guardian, their attorney and caregivers.  This woman got lucky.  She had a reputable attorney.  (Marlatt, I'll never forget his name.)

The good thing about this GAO report is the fact that these guardians/conservators are getting fined and imprisoned.  There is justice in the world. 

Report fraud at this link:

www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm